Review: 'Edge of Tomorrow' a smart, fun sci-fi thrill ride

Tom Cruise's new, fantastically fun sci-fi thriller, "Edge of Tomorrow," comes out Friday. And I hate to play spoiler, but Cruise's character dies. Aliens kill him -- many, many times. Same for Emily Blunt's character.

They die, like, 300 times -- though I may have to check my notes on that.

The good news is they keep coming back, because Earth needs saving, and no one else (including most of the audience) can understand what these aliens are up to. They are a collection of hyper-nasty, swirling spider-thingies possessing awe-inspiring intelligence, serious anger and control issues and a vast propensity for violence (they're sneaky, too). And they know about do-overs.

So "Tomorrow" is like Bill Murray bringing his character's dilemma in "Groundhog Day" to Sigourney Weaver on the set of "Alien" (without anyone knowing their streams would cross in "Ghostbusters").

And while Cruise's character keeps coming back to life in "Edge of Tomorrow," the actor also may be pulling off a career resurrection, possibly quieting naysayers who contend that he can no longer carry a summer blockbuster.

At first glance, "Edge of Tomorrow" looks like just another ambitious "message" sci-fi flick propped up by a well-worn story line about a dystopian Earth, such as Cruise's "Oblivion" or Will Smith's "After Earth." Thankfully, the concept here seemingly has been adjusted to allow for some serious action sequences, unexpected spots of humor and a story that doesn't come anywhere near insulting the audience's intelligence. In fact, the script takes some refreshingly clever turns.

Cruise plays Maj. William Cage, a handsome, charming and somewhat slimy military talking head who has far more experience discussing war on CNN than he does on a real battlefield. Cage gets unexpectedly dumped into a front-line infantry unit right before a futuristic D-Day (right -- the bad guys occupy most of Europe except for Britain, which the good guys still hold and use to launch a massive beach assault on France). Unexpected hilarity ensues as Cruise has no idea how to even take the safety off his weapon, let alone fight.

Bill Paxton is laughingly perfect as Cruise's unit commander, Master Sgt. Fare, who toggles between Paxton's overbearing bully from "Weird Science" and his bug-eyed, bewildered character in "Aliens."

Blunt plays war hero Rita Vrataski, whose exploits are the fabric of military recruiting campaigns. She also has something in common with Cage that allows them to understand things others don't -- namely that Cage, as a result of a battlefield incident, starts his day over every time he dies.

That means if something goes wrong, Vrataski can simply shoot Cage and start over. During one scene, Cage wants to try a new approach, to which Vrataski says she'll give him 10 minutes, "Then I'm killing you." "Fine," Cage says.

Tom Cruise as Cage in 'Edge of Tomorrow.' (Warner Bros.)

Like Murray's protagonist in "Groundhog Day," Cage uses the extended time to become a better man while advancing his skills -- in this case, becoming a crack soldier while trying to figure out how to save Earth. Unlike Murray's, Cage's day doesn't reboot unless he dies, which presents some unique negotiations between Cage and Vrataski (Cruise and Blunt have undeniable chemistry) as their personal campaigns progress.

Director Doug Liman doesn't let the plot stagnate or become overly complicated, which could easily have happened if not for his focus on action and his occasional gallows humor, as well as the natural shine of his two leads. Cruise is back in his irresistibly likable comfort zone, while Blunt is surprisingly potent as a determined soldier who allows Cage to see just enough of her vulnerability.

Best of all, Liman eschews the not-so-subtle "we're-killing-our-planet" message of similar films to let his movie progress without preaching. "Edge of Tomorrow" manages to keep us interested while not insulting our intelligence.

There are a few questions that never get satisfactory answers, such as why Cage went from being the military's star talking head to an infantryman overnight. And even though the relatively simple plot points keep the story moving, a bit more background about the aliens would have helped present a more complete picture.

Then again, there is a lot going on here and no obvious need to muddy things up by digging too deep into the aliens' motivations. "Edge of Tomorrow," while smart and fun, doesn't need to do more than let us slug it out with them and add a clever twist here and there to keep things interesting.